writing rituals

best time:

Probably between 9 and 10 pm. But it varies. I like to work on things little by little, so I can spend 5 minutes here and there, but I like that magic hour between 9 and 10. It's a nice bookend to the day.

got a specific play list?:

Depends what I'm writing. Tori Amos is terrific for angst. In fact, you can blame all of "Lines in the Sand" on Tori. Sarah Brightman is another favorite - she's easy to write to. Madonna's "Something to Remember" is also angsty type music. Upbeat, fun music - usually Madonna's "Ray of Light." I do like Elton John's "Love Songs" as well - especially "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word", "No More Valentines" and "You Can Make History Young Again." Speaking of Sir Elton, for a while, I was writing constantly to "Made in England." "Please" has to be the single-most romantic song out there. Really.

prose easier than dialogue?

They are the same, but it depends no the scene. Sometimes, it's the dialogue that comes to my mind, sometimes it's the prose. Then comes the battle to either a) fit the prose around the dialogue or b) fit the dialogue around the prose. 'A' is harder than 'B', I think.

most troublesome words:

Spelling wise? I can't spell 'approriate'. Not at all. Thank goodness for spellcheck. What's worse is that I use that word all of the time and somehow, I still haven't figured out how to spell it correctly.

favourite character pov right now:

Hmm, depends on the story. Right now, I'm looking at a Kira story and it's a very strange story in terms of its careful and quiet violence and that really fascinates me. I'm really quite taken with this particular Kira - she's fun to write. I like Tom's POV a lot - he's easy to torture. Angst for him - it's almost like he's the bunny's primary caretaker. B'Elanna is fun too. I'd like to do Chakotay and Janeway better as well, but I understand my limits ;-)

smut, yes or no?

Depends on my mood. Sometimes a hint, mostly not. It depends if it's necessary to the story or not. More often than not, I can get by without, but I do skim the edges a lot - I'm just not as good at it as other people are, so I leave it to the experts.